Capture of audio signals from multiple sources and mixing of those audio signals when these sources are moving in the spatial field requires significant manual effort. For example the capture and mixing of an audio signal source such as a speaker or artist within an audio environment such as a theatre or lecture hall to be presented to a listener and produce an effective audio atmosphere requires significant investment in equipment and training.
A commonly implemented system would be for a professional producer to utilize a close microphone, for example a Lavalier microphone worn by the user or a microphone attached to a boom pole to capture audio signals close to the speaker or other sources, and then manually mix this captured audio signal with a suitable spatial (or environmental or audio field) audio signal such that the produced sound comes from an intended direction. As would be expected manually positioning a sound source within the spatial audio field requires significant time and effort to do manually. Furthermore such professionally produced mixes are not particularly flexible and cannot easily be modified by the end user. For example to ‘move’ the close microphone audio signal within the environment further mixing adjustments are required in order that the source and the audio field signals do not produce a perceived clash.
Thus, there is a need to develop solutions which automate part or all of the spatial audio capture, mixing and sound track creation process.